NASCAR insider takes issue with double-standard on DVP rule at Talladega

Last Sunday at Talladega, fans, drivers, and teams were all confused over how NASCAR handled the massive 28-car wreck late in the race. After two clear examples of the Damaged Vehicle Policy rule yanking cars off the track, NASCAR managed to bend the rules for two playoff drivers.

Like many who were watching the race, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic was puzzled. A week before at Kansas, Josh Berry was towed off the track after minimal damage to his car in a Lap 1 incident. NASCAR commented, saying they followed the letter of the rule, even if it wasn’t the ideal situation.

A few weeks prior to that Kansas race, Ryan Blaney was in a Lap 1 incident at Watkins Glen. His car was damaged in the wreck. However, the team felt it was repairable. NASCAR still took the 12 car out of the race.

Jeff Gluck frustrated by NASCAR decisions at Talladega

On The Teardown, Gluck talked about the frustration he felt on Sunday. Officials allowed Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott, and Harrison Burton to be towed or pushed back to pit road, despite taking damage in the 28-car incident with four laps to go.

“I don’t want to bang my head against the wall, it’s just exhausting,” Gluck explained. “Because you’re just like, as soon as something like this happens, my social media feed on X lights up. ‘Why, why is this happening? What’s the reason for this?’ And sometimes I can get a reason and explanation and tell you guys, ‘Well, it’s this.’ Okay. Like [Daniel] Suárez earlier in the race, his car wouldn’t refire, so they pushed the car, he was able to drive it back. ‘Oh, okay,’ I say in my head, ‘That makes sense. I like consistency, I like following the rules. That seems to jive with the policy. Okay, I can accept that.’ Right?

“When you say last week and you have made it very clear, Blaney’s thing and this thing with Berry, if you can’t drive it back, you’re out. And then they like go to great huge thing of pulling Briscoe out of the grass, pulling Chase [Elliott], and Harrison Burton by the way, too, got towed back. Why? I don’t know, man. Why can’t we have a clear policy that doesn’t change week to week? By the way, this is the playoffs. By the way, this stuff matters because the whole format is short seasons, short mini-seasons. So, it’s just, it’s not good.”

Jeff Gluck is right. NASCAR has brought this on themselves. Every time they go back on a rule or bend it, it brings scrutiny. Fans and others are not happy with the outcome. It isn’t a matter of making a popular decision, but making a consistent one. That is what fans want.